Liquid fuel burner font with automatic feed cut-off



H. C. HEBARD Oct. 18, 1966 LIQUID FUEL BURNER FONT WITH AUTOMATIC FEED CUT-OFF Filed March 25, 1964 HEM , z iziii i fiirfi i OO 0 O00 Hug/1 C/MQLES United States Patent 3,279,222 LIQUID FUEL BURNER FONT WITH AUTU- MATIC FEED CUT-OFF Hugh Charles Hebard, Flackwell Heath, High Wycombe,

England, assignor to Aladdin Industries Limited, Greenford, England, a British company Filed Mar. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 353,899 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Apr. 22, 1963, 15,728/ 63 3 Claims. (Cl. 67-81) This invention relates to containers for liquids and primarily concerns liquid fuel reservoirs for wick-type oil burning appliances. In apparatus of this kind, the fuel reservoir must, of necessity, be provided with a tube or tubes passing through the top of the reservoir to accommodate the wick. The latter must be an easy sliding tit in the tube or tubes, in order to allow the wick to be raised and lowered, so that some clearance must be left between the wick and wick tubes. For this reason, if the appliance is accidentally overturned, oil from the reservoir flows freely through the space between the wick and wick tubes when the fuel reservoir is more than 'half full and in the case of large burners, the resultant spillage can be considerable.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a liquid container such as a fuel reservoir which can be tipped at any angle up to at least a right-angle in any direction substantially without spilling any of its contents. According to the invention there is provided a container for liquids comprising a dual compartment tank wherein the compartments are connected together by an aperture and/or passage adapted to pass liquid freely therebetween, one compartment being provided with a vent pipe in which is fitted a valve adapted to close automatically if the container is lifted or overturned.

In operation, closure of the valve in the vent pipe effectively prevents any liquid flow from one compartment to the other so that a tank of the type described can be tilted through any angle up to at least a right angle substantially without any spillage of its contents.

It must be understood that although the method of putting this invention into effect to be described deals only with its application to wick-type liquid fuel burners, it is no way limited to this application and can equally well be used for other types of container for inflammable, corrosive or other liquids which may be accidentally overturned.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing showing a section through the fuel reservoir of a liquid fuel burning appliance of the wick type.

The reservoir comprises a tank 1 separated by an inner partition wall 2 into compartments and 14. Compartment 14 includes a central reduced diameter well 3 projecting into and surrounded by compartment 10 and into which depend the wick tails 4 of the burner 5, the latter being mounted in a central hole in the upper wall of the tank. Oil admitted to compartment 10 after removal of the filter cap 6 can only flow into the well of compartment 14 by means of a small opening 7 at or near the base of the compartment well 3. Moreover, such flow can only take place so long as air can be admitted int-o compartment 10 through the vent pipe 9. So long as the appliance is standing normally on its base 16 on a support 17 as shown, vent pipe 9 is open but if the appliance is lifted or tilted, a compression spring 11 acts on a rod 12 to close the vent pipe by means of a plug valve 13. Normally valve 13 is held open and spring 11 compressed by red 12 engaging support 17. When the valve closes, no more oil can flow into the well of compartment 14 and if the appliance is tilted, the oil already in Well 3 will flow into the upper space of compartment 14 which is large enough to accommodate it without the level rising above the lower edge of the hole 15 in which the burner 5 is mounted.

I claim:

1. A fuel reservoir for a liquid fuel burning appliance comprising a tank, a partition separating said tank into two compartments, one of which has a lower portion in the form of a central wick-receiving we'll projecting into the other compartment and communicating at or near its lower end with said other compartment through a small aperture in said partition and an upper portion formed at its upper end with an opening for reception of the burner of the appliance, said upper portion being of a size sutficient to accommodate oil from the well and prevent its escaping through said opening when the tank is tipped, means defining a vent from said other compartment to atmosphere and valve means for closing said vent automatically when said tank is lifted or tilted with respect to a support on which it stands.

2. A fuel reservoir according to claim 1, wherein said valve means is normally held open against the action of a loading spring by a rod connected thereto and projecting through the base of the reservoir into engagement with said support.

3. A fuel reservoir according to claim 1, wherein said well is a tubular reduced diameter section of the partition terminating in an end wall lying closely adjacent the bottom wall of said tank, and said small aperture being formed in said end wall of the Well.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 585,822 7/1897 Larwill et al. 67--8l 1,297,650 3/1919 Brown 6 7--77 1,571,795 2/1926 Poss 15'8--41 1,833,150 11/1931 Beechlyn et al.

2,217,750 10/ 1940 Hockenstrom 222--1 62 3,131,893 5/1964 Boucher et al. 158-46.5 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 42,424 2/ 1888 Germany. 13,346 1893 Great Britain.

FREDERICK L. MATTE/SON, JR., Primary Examiner.

ROBERT A. DUA, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A FUEL RESERVOIR FOR A LIQUID FUEL BURNING APPLIANCE COMPRISING A TANK, A PARTION SEPARATING SAID TANK INTO TWO COMPARTMENTS, ONE OF WHICH HAS A LOWER PORTION IN THE FORM OF A CENTRAL WICK-RECEIVING WELL PROJECTING INTO THE OTHER COMPARTMENT AND COMMUNICATING AT OR NEAR ITS LOWER END WITH SAID OTHER COMPARTMENT THROUGH A SMALL APERTURE IN SAID PARTITION AND AN UPPER PORTION FORMED AT ITS UPPER END WITH AN OPENING FOR RECEPTION OF THE BURNER OF THE APPLIANCE, SAID UPPER PORTION BEING OF A SIZE SUFFICIENT TO ACCOMMODATE OIL FROM THE WELL AND PREVENT ITS ESCAPING THROUGH SAID OPENING WHEN THE TANK IS TIPPED, MEANS DEFINING A VENT FROM SAID OTHER COMPARTMENT TO ATMOSPHERE AND VALVE MEANS FOR CLOSING SAID VENT AUTOMATICALLY WHEN SAID TANK IS LIFTED OR TILTED WITH RESPECT TO A SUPPORT ON WHICH IT STANDS. 